


Crossed Communications

by aeternamente



Category: Lizzie Bennet Diaries
Genre: Family, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-01-16
Updated: 2013-01-18
Packaged: 2017-11-25 16:44:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/640990
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aeternamente/pseuds/aeternamente
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A speculative look at what might show up on YouTube around the time of Lydia’s disappearance.</p><p>(Note: I've just decided to expand the format a bit, so now there's a new "twitterlude" chapter between the two that were there before. In case you wondered.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Lizzie

**Author's Note:**

> The description currently shows this chapter as "1 of 3." That may or may not be accurate, depending on how quickly I write and what happens in the show. But as I think (I HOPE) Pemberley should go on another couple of weeks at least, I think I've got a little leeway, and may even continue this past three chapters, who knows?

Lizzie looked into the camera, and the camera looked back, and Lizzie felt like that small, round lens was judging her. Well, it was only what she deserved, anyway.

No preamble today.

“My name is Lizzie Bennet, and… I’m a terrible sister.”

She took a deep breath and continued. “So, at the end of the last video I said I was going to try to be a good sister again and catch up on Lydia’s videos, like I said I was going to. Remember that? Back when I came home for Thanksgiving? Yeah, it took me way too long, and now I really regret that.”

“Those of you who do follow her videos know that she’s been spending a lot of time with—” she had to steel herself to say the name “—George Wickham.”

“And you may be wondering why I still hate him so much when he said himself that he was stupid to spend all of that money and was trying to live a better life now, but the thing is…” She paused and tried to figure out exactly what to say here. “That’s not the only thing Darcy said about George in his letter. George did something worse.  _Much worse_. But I still can’t say what it was because it’s still not my place to say. You just have to believe me when I say that he’s really, really,  _really_  not a good guy.”

_Please, Lydia, please believe me._

“So I called Lydia, and it turns out she’s about to run off with him on some road trip to God knows where, and I tried to talk her out of it, but she got really angry with me and said I couldn’t tell her what to do.”

She sighed and looked straight into the camera, as if she could see her baby sister through it.

“Lydia, if you’re watching this, I don’t want to be mean or controlling, or tell you what to do with your own life. I’ve been really horrible that way in the past, and I’m  _sorry_ , I’m  _so_  sorry. But you don’t know who this guy  _is_ , what he’s  _done_ , what he could do to  _you_. I know you probably ignored the e-mail I sent to you, but it has some information that you really need to know.  _Please_  read it.  _Please_  think about what you’re doing.”

“Oh, who am I kidding? You’re not watching. You hate me now. I just…” She swallowed. “I just don’t want to see you get hurt.” She barely squeaked the words out before her throat closed up and she buried her face into her hands and gave into the tears that had been threatening to escape since she’d learned of what was happening to Lydia.

Then there was a solid presence by her side and a warm hand on her back.

“Lizzie?” Darcy’s voice was barely a whisper. “What’s wrong? Can I help?”

Lizzie couldn’t speak, and didn’t know what she would say if she could. Finally, she handed him her phone, on which she had pulled up Lydia’s latest video.

Frowning, he took the phone and pressed play. Lizzie watched as the expression on his face turned hard and unyielding. The intense glare he directed at the screen seemed powerful enough to make George spontaneously burst into flame, however far away he might be at the moment.

“She’s planning on running off with him,” Lizzie said over the noise of the video. “I tried to talk her out of it. I tried everything I could think of, but she won’t listen to me, and I just… I don’t know what to do anymore.” Her voice shook, and she was silent.

Darcy set her phone on the table in front of them as Lydia’s disturbingly chipper outro played. Without a word, he took Lizzie in his arms and held her close to his chest. Lizzie returned the embrace, trying her best to ignore the funny way her stomach lurched at this sudden closeness. She didn’t have the energy to analyze her conflicted feelings toward Darcy right now, she just wanted— _needed_  to be comforted.

“It’s all my fault,” she mumbled into his shirt. “I should have been a better sister. I should have told her about him—”

“No,” Darcy insisted. He stood abruptly and began pacing, leaving Lizzie to feel the sudden, aching emptiness in the space around her. “No, it’s my fault. I should have put that bastard in jail when I had the chance, to  _hell_ with my father’s wishes.”

“I need to go home,” Lizzie said. “I may be able to catch her, talk some sense into her. I know it’s a long shot, but if there’s any chance—what are you doing?”

Darcy had pulled out his phone and was working furiously away at it with impatient prods and swipes. “I’m getting you a plane ticket,” he said shortly.

“Oh, no I didn’t mean—I was just going to call Charlotte—”

“There’s no need to trouble her.”

“But I can’t afford—”

“I wasn’t expecting you to pay for it,” Darcy said. “And at any rate, it’s done. You leave in two hours. You should be getting a flight confirmation—” Lizzie’s phone vibrated. “—right now, as it turns out.”

Lizzie frowned and picked up her phone. “This… is a first class ticket,” she said, scrolling through the confirmation.

“Of course it is.”

“Darcy, I couldn’t—”

“There isn’t much time. I can drive you if you’d like. We can stop at your house so you can pick up some things.”

Lizzie didn’t know whether to feel annoyed or grateful, but he was right about one thing: if she was going on this flight, there wasn’t much time.  _Might as well not fight it, right?_

“Okay, just let me pack this up,” Lizzie said. She exchanged a bemused look with the camera before turning it off.


	2. Twitterlude (1)

**Lizzie Bennet**  @TheLizzieBennet  
Worst feeling in the world: being too late.

**Lizzie Bennet**  @TheLizzieBennet  
Dad’s gone to find Lydia. Mom’s in denial. I’m trying to stay sane.

**Jane Bennet**  @LooksByJane  
@TheLizzieBennet Do you need me to come home? I can take a long weekend.

**Lizzie Bennet**  @TheLizzieBennet  
@LooksByJane Would I be a horrible person if I said yes?

**Jane Bennet**  @LooksByJane  
@TheLizzieBennet I’ll be there tomorrow.

**William Darcy**  @wmdarcy  
@FitzOnTheFitz Can you make my excuses? I’ll be out of town for a few days.


	3. Lydia

Lydia grinned into her camera, held at arm’s length. She had finally gotten away from that house that felt like a ghost of its former self, from that boring town where nothing happened any more. She was on an adventure! And now that she had escaped, she could finally let her viewers in on the secret.

“Hey everyone!” she bubbled. “So you’re probably wondering, ‘Hey, Lydia, why are you sitting in a car parked at a gas station?’ Because I’m traveling, duh! Epic road trip eff-tee-DUBS!” She giggled. “George is in the store getting us coffee and asking for directions. We’ve actually been planning this for a while now, but I kept it a secret because I didn’t want my parents or my sisters to find out and lecture me on how I should ‘keep up with my studies’ and ‘not be so irresponsible.’” She rolled her eyes.

“Oh, yeah, Lizzie called. And I… kinda told her about the trip, but only because she was trying to tell me that I should dump George, so I told her about it just to rub it in her face. I mean, whatevs, she’s just jealous that George doesn’t like her anymore and she’s stuck hanging with Darcy all the time. Snore fest.”

Lydia frowned. “I don’t get why she’s so uptight about me getting out of that boring town and actually living my life. Isn’t that what she and Jane are off doing now? Why shouldn’t I do it too?”

The driver’s side door opened and George climbed in. “Hey,” he said, giving her a kiss on the cheek and sliding a coffee into her unoccupied hand. “What are you doing?” he asked with a glance at the camera.

“It’s Thursday, I have to film the video for tomorrow,” she said.

George smiled. “But I thought this trip was going to be our little secret.” He quirked an eyebrow at her, but Lydia thought she saw a little bit of nervousness in his expression as his eyes quickly darted toward the camera, then back at her.

“They’re gonna wonder what happened if I don’t post anything,” she reasoned, keeping a smile on her face and exchanging a glance with the camera, as if the viewers could see them right now and take her side. Sometimes, something about talking to George made her want someone to take her side.

“I know, I just…” He reached out and caressed her cheek. “I want this to be just you and me.” He grinned. “Our own private adventure. We don’t need to take the whole internet along, do we?”

Lydia frowned. “Since when are you so weird about being on my videos?”

“I’m not—I love being on your videos!” He winked at the camera for good measure. “But you know what I like even better?”

Lydia grinned. She had an idea. But she asked anyway. “What?”

“Being with you.” He kissed her forehead. “Just you.” He fixed her with a stare that was mostly tender and sweet, but also seemed to be a bit of a warning. “So don’t post it, okay?”

Lydia sighed. “Okay.”

“Great, let’s get going.” And with that, he started up the car and pulled out of the gas station.

Lydia gave the camera a confidential smile and wink before turning it off. What George didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him.


End file.
